figure



March 24, 1964 P. KA-rz ETAL 3,126,124

SELF-RELEASED CANDY SHELF ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 16, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 P. KATz ETAL 3,126,124

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 24, 1964 SELF-RELEASED CANDY SHELF ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 16, 1961 Mal'Ch 24, 1954 P. KA-rz ETAL 3,126,124

SELF-RELEASED CANDY SHELF ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 16, 1961 3 Sheets-Shea?I 3 m fo f l L N l l l `3C 59 52 i A 36 7o lh 68 y 3412.1. El

' 'M' "Il l 74 @y 76 Z6 50 INVENTORS II l l 76 PETE@ ,Km-2 Il Ih BYLEsTE/ M. WHLDEA/ 6 mmm/EY United States Patent O 3,126,124 SELF-WLEASED CANDY SHELF ASSEMBLY Peter Katz, Livingston, and Lester M. Walden, Chatham,

N Ii., assiguers, by mesue assignments, to Automatic Canteen Company of America, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 16, 196i, Ser. No. 89,819 7 Claims. (Cl. 221-90) Our invention relates to a self-released candy shelf assembly and more particularly to a dispensing mechanism of the pivoted shelf type which is more rugged, simpler in construction, more certain in operation, and less expensive than assemblies of this type known in the prior art.

Various machines are known in the prior art for dispensing articles of merchandise such, for example, as bars of candy and the like. Most of the machines known in the prior art for dispensing articles such as bars of candy include a plurality of pivoted shelves arranged in a column and adapted successively to be released upon operation of a coin-released actuating mechanism. In one machine known in the prior art a plurality of vertically arranged pivoted shelves normally are held in erected, generallyhorizontal positions by means of latches mounted for vertical sliding movement on a member carried by the wall of the machine. Associated with the respective shelves of a column and pivotally carried by a vertically reciprocable bar, are a plurality of latch operating members. Springs normally urge these members to operative positions at which upon reciprocation of the bar, a member associated with a particular shelf releases the latch of the shelf immediately above. When the shelves of this mechanism are erected, lugs on the shelves engage the latch-releasing members and hold them in positions against the action of their biasing means at which they do not actuate the latches of the shelves above upon reciprocation of the bar.

In the condition of the machine described above, when a column of shelves is fully loaded all shelves are latched in their erected positions and all latch releasing members are held out of operative position against the action of their biasing springs by the shelf-carried lugs. Upon the first operation of the fully loaded machine, a dummy latch-releasing member actuates the latch of the lowermost shelf to cause this shelf to drop to deliver the article carried thereby to the customer. When the lowermost shelf drops, the latch releasing member for the shelf next above is free to move to its operative position under the influence of the biasing spring. Upon the next operation of the machine, as the vertical bar reciprocates, the latchreleasing member which has been rendered operative releases the latch of the shelf next above the lowermost shelf to deliver another article of merchandise. This operation continues until such time as all the shelves have been released sequentially from the lowermost shelf to the uppermost shelf.

While the structure described above successfully accomplishes the result of delivering articles of merchandise to a customer in response to the operation of an actuating mechanism, it is relatively complicated. The reciprocating latches for holding the shelves in their erected positions require the provision of a stationary bar or the like for providing the latch mounting means. The manner in which the latch releasing members operate requires individual biasing springs and means carried by the shelves for holding the members out of operative position. With such an arrangement a shelf must act against the biasing springs in moving from its loaded position to its released position. Thus the loaded position of a shelf is determined by the shelf below and by the force of the biasing ICC means against which it acts. Further the structure described above occupies a considerable amount of space. The arrangement is relatively expensive to construct owing to the complicated nature of the construction.

We have invented a self-released candy shelf assembly which overcomes the defects of machines of the prior art pointed out hereinabove. Our construction employs latches carried directly by the Wall of the machine so that no separate latch mounting bar is required. Our machine requires no biasing springs for the latch releasing members against which the shelves must act in their loaded positions. Owing to this arrangement each shelf and the product carried thereby is supported independently of the shelf immediately below it and independently of any biasing force. For these reasons our assembly is simpler and more compact than is the assembly of the prior art described above. Owing to its simplicity, our assembly is less expensive to construct than is the assembly of the prior art described above. Since our assembly employs no biasing means against which shelf carried members must act to hold the shelf releasing members out of operative position, our construction is extremely rugged and has a long life.

One object of our invention is to provide a self-released candy shelf assembly which is simpler than are shelf releasing assemblies of the prior art.

Another object of our invention is to provide a selfreleased candy shelf assembly which is more compact than are shelf releasing assemblies of the prior art.

A further object of our invention is to provide a selfreleased candy shelf assembly which is less expensive to construct than are shelf releasing assemblies of the prior art.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a self-released candy shelf assembly which has a long life.

Other and further objects of our invention will appear from the following description.

In general our invention contemplates the provision of a self-released candy shelf assembly in which a column of pivoted shelves are normally held in article-receiving positions by latching levers pivotally supported on a wall of the assembly. A vertically reciprocable bar responsive to the operation of the machine carries a plurality of floating, pivoted, latch-releasing levers associated with the respective shelves. When a particular shelf has been released, a lug carried by the shelf provides a sliding fulcrum for one end of the shelf-releasing lever so that as the bar reciprocates the lever pivots to engage and actuate the latching lever associated with the shelf next above whereby to release this shelf to permit it to drop to a position at which it provides a fulcrum for the corresponding shelf releasing lever upon the next operation of the machine. We provide our machine with a lock for rendering the actuating mechanism inoperative when all the shelves of a column have been released.

In the accompanying drawings which form part of the instant specification and which are to be read in conjunction therewith and in which like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts in the various views:

FIGURE l is a side elevation of our self-released candy shelfV assembly.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of our self-released candy shelf assembly taken along the line 2-2 of FIGURE l showing the mechanism in a position before the operating mechanism is actuated.

VFIGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of our selfreleased candy shelf assembly showing the positions of the parts when the operating mechanism has been actuated.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of our self-released candy 3, shelf assembly taken along the line 4 4 of FIGURE 2 and drawn on an enlarged scale.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary perspective View of our self-released candy shelf assembly illustrating the interaction between the various elements of the mechanism.

Referring to FIGURES l to 4, a machine employing our self-released candy shelf assembly includes a plurality of units, each of which is indicated generally by the reference character lil. Each unit comprises a back wall 12 provided with a pair of forwardly extending side flanges 14 and I6. A member formed of a suitable material such as sheet metal is bent to form a side panel 26, a partition 22 parallel to the wall l2 and a flange 24 abutting flange 14. We assemble the parts in any suitable manner known to Athe art such as by rivets, by welding or the like. We dispose a window 1S in front of the units to permit the contents of the machine to be viewed by a potential customer.

Our machine includes a plurality of respective shelves 26 each of which is pivotally supported on a shaft 28 carried by the flanges I4 and 16. It will be seen that the shafts 28 are vertically spaced along the length of flanges I4 and I6. The back 12 carries a plurality of pivot pins 30, each of which supports a respective latching lever 32 one end of which is formed with an offset 34 the end of which is adapted to engage a downwardly extending extension 36 formed on the shelf with which it is associated Respective springs 3S connected between the levers 32 and pins 4i) on the flange 16 normally urge the latching levers to rotate in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGURES 2 and 3. Stops 39 formed on the shelves limit the movement of levers 32 in a counterclockwise direction under the action of springs 3S when the shelves are raised. When the shelves have dropped in a manner to be described hereinafter, the projections 36 act as stops to limit the movement of levers 32 under the action of springs 38.

Our machine includes a vertically reciprocable bar 42 to which we secure a slide block 44 by any suitable means such as by screws 46. Block 4d rides in a guide slot 48 formed in the panel 22 to guide the bar for vertical reciprocating movement. Flanges Si) formed on the block 44 retain the block in position in the slot 48. A shaft 52 supported below the columns of shelves 26 pivotally carries a plurality of bell cranks, one arm 54 of which is adapted to be moved in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE l in response to the operation of a coinrelease mechanism (not shown) of any suitable type known to the art. The other arm 56 of the bell crank has a bifurcated end 58 which engages a flange 6d formed on an arm 62 of a bell crank pivotally supported on a shaft 64 carried by the machine frame. When arm 54 is moved in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE l, the bifurcated end 58 of the arm 56 moves arm 62 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE 2 to cause the flange 60 on which the lower end of the bar 42 normally rests to move the bar 42 upwardly through a predetermined distance. When arm 54 is reset to the position shown in FIGURE 1, bar 42 drops to the position shown in FIGURE 2.

Bar 42 carries a plurality of vertically spaced pivot shafts 66, each of which carries a respective tripping or unlatching lever 6d. The levers 68 normally lloat on the pivot shaft 66 but may be slightly overbalanced so that the end of one arm 7i) of the lever 63 rests on a tab 72 bent out of the panel 22. In any event, the tabs 72 limit pivotal movement of the levers 68 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE 2. We form the other arms 74- of levers 68 with offsets 76 which may engage the edge of the bar 42 upon clockwise rotation of the levers to limit their movement in this direction.

Each of the shelves 26 carries a lug 7S adapted to be engaged by the offset '76 of a tripping lever 68 when the bar d2 moves upwardly as viewed in the drawings if the particular shelf has been moved to its released position. The arms 70 of the levers 68 carry lugs 74 for engaging the arms '76 of levers 32 remote from the offsets 34 when the bar 42 moves upwardly. Assume that a shelf with which the offset 76 of a tripping lever 68 is associated has been released so that its lug 73 is in the path of movement of the otfset 76. Then, as the bar 42 moves upwardly, lug 7d and the offset 76 cooperate to provide a sliding fulcrum for the tripping lever 68 to cause it to rotate in a clockwise direction as viewed in the figures of the drawings. When this takes place, the releasing lug '74 on the arm 76 of the actuated lever 63 engages the end of arm 76 of the latching lever 32 associated with that shelf 26 immediately above the shelf which has been dumped to rotate the lever 32 in a clock- Wise direction as viewed in FIGURES 2, 3, and 5. In response to this movement of the lever 32, offset 34 moves out of engagement with projection 36 and this shelf next above drops to position its lug 78 in the path of the offset 76 on the next operation of the machine.

Where the shelf 26 associated with the ollset 76 of a tripping lever has not been dropped, then as the bar moves upwardly the offset 76 passes freely by the shelf and when its oiset 74 engages the end of the arm 76 of the latching lever 32 of the shelf next above, it merely rotates idly about its shaft 66 in a counterclockwise direction. It will be appreciated that when a shelf has just been tripped to permit it to fall, its lug 78 moves to a position under the ollset 76 associated with the lug. Thus when the bar again moves downwardly, the lug would tend to pivot the tripping lever 66 in a counterclockwise direction. The corresponding lug 72 on the partition 22 limits this movement and causes the offset 76 corresponding to the shelf which has just been tripped to ride by the projection 78 thus camming the shelf toward its erected position.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, we provide our assembly with an empty locking mechanism including a vertically extending rod 80 supported in a guide 82 carried by the ilange 14. The upper end of the rod 86 carries an offset 84 which normally rests on the top of the uppermost shelf as viewed in FIGURE l. When the uppermost shelf is released, its stop 39 moves the rod upwardly to the broken line position shown in FIGURE l. The bell crank having the arm 62 has a second arm 86 provided with an offset S8. When arm 56 moves in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE l to drive arm 62 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE 2 arm 86 tends to move in a counterclockwise direction. This movement normally is permitted. When, however, the empty lock rod 80 has been raised as the uppermost shelf drops, the stop 90 is in the path of the ollset 88 and the actuating mechanism is locked against operation, thus preventing the loss to a customer of coins deposited in the machine in an attempt to make a purchase.

We mount a dummy lug 92 in a position below the lowermost shelf 26 to actuate the lowermost tripping lever 68 as the bar 42 is raised so as to release the lowermost shelf upon the first operation of the machine after it has been fully loaded.

In operation of our self-released candy shelf assembly, a sum in coins equal to the purchase price of an article carried by the shelves 26 is deposited in the machine to free the mechanism including bell crank arm S4 to permit the machine to operate. When this mechanism is actuated, crank 54 rotates in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE l to move arm 62 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE 2 to raise the bar 42 to the position shown in FIGURE 3. In the course of this movement the lugs 36 of all shelves which have been released on preceding operations of the machine cooperate with offsets 76 to provide sliding fulcrums for the floating tripping levers 68 to rotate these levers in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURES 2, 3, and 5. In the course of this movement of levers 63 the lug 74 on the lever associated with the lowest shelf which has not been released engages the arm 76 of the latching lever 32 associated with that shelf to pivot the lever in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURES 2, 3, and to move offset 32 out of engagement with lug 36 to permit the shelf to drop. In the course of the upward movement of the bar, the offsets 76 associated with shelves which have not been tripped ride freely past the shelves and the levers 68 carrying these offsets are rotated idly in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGURES 2, 3, and 5 by the interengagement between the lugs 74 and the arms 76 of the engaged latching levers 32. When all the shelves of a unit have been released, empty lock rod 80 is moved to a position at which the stop 90 prevents actuation of the operating mechanism of the unit.

It will be seen that we have accomplished the objects of our invention. We have provided a self-released candy shelf assembly which is simpler and less expensive to manufacture than are shelf releasing assemblies of the prior art. Our assembly requires no biasing springs for the latch-releasing members against which the shelves must act in their loaded positions and does not employ interengageable means on the shelves and the releasing members for holding the members out of operative position against the action of the biasing means. The latches of our mechanism are pivoted directly on a wall of the mechanism and they do not require any mounting mechanism such as is necessary for sliding latches employed in constructions of the prior art. Our self-releasing candy shelf assembly is rugged and has a longer life than do shelf releasing assemblies of the prior art.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of our claims. It is further obvious that various changes may be made in details within the scope of our claims without departing from the spirit of our invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that our invention is not to be limited to the specific details shown and described.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

l. A merchandising machine including in combination a frame, a plurality of shelves, respective means mounting said shelves for movement from a raised position to a dropped position, respective releasable latching means for normally holding said shelves in their raised positions, an operating member, means mounting said member for movement on said frame, respective shelf tripping elements associated Wtih said shelves, means mounting said shelf tripping elements for movement relative to said member, means responsive to movement of an element relative to said member for releasing the latching means associated with the lowermost of the raised shelves, means for moving said member on each operation of said machine, means responsive to movement of said member on the initial operation of said machine for dropping the lowermost shelf and means carried by a dropped shelf responsive to movement of said member on a succeeding operation of said machine for moving an element to release the latching means associated with said lowermost raised shelf.

2. A merchandising machine including in combination a frame, a plurality of shelves, respective means pivotally mounting said shelves on said frame for movement from a raised position to a dropped position, respective releasable latching means for normally holding said shelves in their raised positions, an operator, a plurality of latch-releasing levers, means mounting said levers for free oating pivotal movement on said operator, means responsive to pivotal movement of a lever relative to said operator for releasing the latching means associated with the lowermost raised shelf, means for moving said operator and means carried by a dropped shelf for providing a fulcrum for one of said latch-releasing levers in response to movement of said operator to cause said lever to release a latching means of said lowermost raised shelf.

3. A merchandising machine including in combination a frame, a plurality of shelves, means mounting said shelves on said frame for pivotal movement from raised positions to dropped positions, respective latching levers associated with said shelves, means mounting said latching levers for pivotal movement on said frame, first interengageable means on corresponding arms of said latching levers and on said respective shelves for normally holding said shelves in raised positions, an operator, means mounting said operator for movement on said frame, a plurality of tripping levers, means pivotally mounting said tripping levers for movement on said operator, second interengageable means on said latching levers and on said tripping levers for moving said first interengageable means out of engagement upon rotation of a tripping lever relative to said operator, means for moving said operator, and means carried by a dropped shelf responsive to movement of said operator for providing a fulcrum for a tripping lever to cause the tripping lever to pivot upon movement of said operator to actuate said second interengageable means to release the corresponding first interengageable means to permit the lowermost raised shelf to drop to dispense an'article carried thereby.

4. A merchandising machine including in combination a frame, a plurality of shelves, means mounting said shelves on said frame for pivotal movement from raised positions to dropped positions, respective latching levers associated with said shelves, means mounting said latching levers for pivotal movement on said frame, first interengageable means on corresponding arms of said latching levers and on said respective shelves for normally holding said shelves in raised positions, an operator, means mounting said operator for movement on said frame, a plurality of tripping levers, means pivotally mounting said tripping levers for movement on said operator, second interengageable means on said latching levers and on said tripping levers for moving said first interengageable means out of engagement upon rotation of a tripping lever relative to said operator, means for moving said operator, said shelves forming a column of shelves and means carried by said frame for providing a fulcrum for the tripping lever associated with the bottom shelf of said column.

5. A merchandising machine including in combination a frame, a plurality of shelves, means mounting said shelves on said frame for pivotal movement from raised positions to dropped positions, respective latching levers associated with said shelves, means mounting said latching levers for pivotal movement on said frame, first interengageable means on corresponding arms of said latching levers and on said respective shelves for normally holding said shelves in raised positions, an operator, means mounting said operator for movement on said frame, a plurality of tripping levers, means pivotally mounting said tripping levers for movement on said operator, second interengageable means on said latching levers and on said tripping levers for moving said first interengageable means out of engagement upon rotation of a tripping lever relative to said operator, means for moving said operator, and means for limiting the movement of said tripping levers.

6. A merchandising machine including in combination a frame, a plurality of shelves, means mounting said shelves on said frame for pivotal movement from raised positions to dropped positions, respective latching levers associated with said shelves, means mounting said latching levers for pivotal movement on said frame, first interengageable means on corresponding arms of said latching levers and on said respective shelves for normally holding said shelves in raised positions, an operator, means mounting said operator for movement on said frame, a plurality of tripping levers, means pivotally mounting said tripping levers for movement on said operator, second interengageable means on said latching levers and on said tripping levers for moving said first interengage- 7, able means out of engagement upon rotationof a tripping lever relative to said operator, means for moving said operatormeans for biasing said latching levers to the positions at which they hold said shelves in their raised position and means carried by a dropped shelf for limiting the movement of its latching lever under the action of said biasing means.

7. A merchandising machine including in combination a plurality of superposed shelves, respective means mounting said shelves for pivotal movement about an axis from a raised position to a dropped position, respective releasable latching means for normally holding said shelves in their raised positions, an operating member, means mounting said member for pivotal movement on said frame around an axis substantially perpendicular to said shelf axis, respective interengageable elements on said shelves and on said members, biasing means acting in a plane perpendicular to said shelf axis for normally urging said members to positions at which said interengageable elements are engaged, respective shelf-tripping elements associated with said shelves, means mounting said shelf-tripping elements -for movement relative to said member, means responsive to movement of an element relative to saidv member for releasing the'latching means associated with the lowermost of the raised shelves, means for moving said member on each operation of said machine, means responsive to movement of said member on the initial operation of said machine for dropping the lowermost shelf and means carried by a dropped shelf responsive to movement of said member on a succeeding operation of said machine for moving an element to release the latching means associated with the lowerrnost raised shelf.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,330,540 'Karak er al Feb. 10, 1920 2,324,040 Stoner et al. July 13, 1943 20 2,896,817 Holstein July 28, 1959 

1. A MERCHANDISING MACHINE INCLUDING IN COMBINATION A FRAME, A PLURALITY OF SHELVES, RESPECTIVE MEANS MOUNTING SAID SHELVES FOR MOVEMENT FROM A RAISED POSITION TO A DROPPED POSITION, RESPECTIVE RELEASABLE LATCHING MEANS FOR NORMALLY HOLDING SAID SHELVES IN THEIR RAISED POSITIONS, AN OPERATING MEMBER, MEANS MOUNTING SAID MEMBER FOR MOVEMENT ON SAID FRAME, RESPECTIVE SHELF TRIPPING ELEMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID SHELVES, MEANS MOUNTING SAID SHELF TRIPPING ELEMENTS FOR MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO SAID MEMBER, MEANS RESPONSIVE TO MOVEMENT OF AN ELEMENT RELATIVE TO SAID MEMBER FOR RELEASING THE LATCHING MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOWERMOST OF THE RAISED SHELVES, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID MEMBER ON EACH OPERATION OF SAID MACHINE, MEANS RESPONSIVE TO MOVEMENT OF SAID MEMBER ON THE INITIAL OPERATION OF SAID MACHINE FOR DROPPING THE LOWERMOST SHELF AND MEANS CARRIED BY A DROPPED SHELF RESPONSIVE TO MOVEMENT OF SAID MEMBER ON A SUCCEEDING OPERATION OF SAID MACHINE FOR MOVING AN ELEMENT TO RE- 